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While we didn't see this coming, yesterday afternoon, GMCEO Mary Barra hopped on Twitter with Elon Musk and announced the GM will adopt Tesla's North American Charging Standard, or NACS starting in twenty twenty four. GMEV owners can use an
adapter to access twelve thousand Tesla supercharger stations throughout North America, and GM will integrate the NACS port into its vehicles starting in twenty twenty five. GM will
also add the Tesla Supercharging Network into its vehicles and mobile apps to help customers locate the stations and pay for charging. Ford already announced it will adopt Tesla's
n ACS chargers, so GM had to react and stunningly. Barras says Tesla's
n ACS connector could become the single standard in North America instead of the Combined Charging Standard or CCS plugs that everyone else uses. With Ford and GM joining
Tesla, more automakers are likely to follow. Ford announced it's going to significantly
boost production of the F one fifty Lightning, which will slash wait times for customers. It's on track to hit an annual production rate of one hundred and
fifty thousand units by the end of the year, or triple what it's currently building. The XLT version of the truck will get the largest production increase since
it's the most popular, Ford says. A customer who places an order now
for the XLT Lightning will receive it as early as September. It's also taking
orders for the Lariat and Platinum trims, but the entry level Pro model is sold out for the year. Earlier this week, RAM showed off a unibody
pickup truck for Brazil called the Rampage. At the time, we wondered if
the company would bring it to North America. We didn't have to wait long
for an answer. It is coming. The Drive reports that a source within
Stellantis, Ram's parent company confirmed that the Rampage will be sold in the US and that it will debut later this year. In addition to that, a
couple of camouflage versions of the truck were spotted testing in Colorado. As of
now, the Rampage is only confirmed to be produced in Brazil, so the company will likely need to find another plant in North America to build it so it can avoid the twenty five percent chicken tax on imported light trucks. There's
some fascinating stats from the latest electric vehicle report from Bloomberg New Energy Finance.
It shows that sales of ice vehicles are declining almost everywhere in the world, while the only growth in the auto industry is coming from EVA, and the only developed country that saw ICE sales go up was Australia, which were up only one percent. The study says evs of all kinds, including two and
three wheelers, are already displacing one and a half million barrels of oil a day, or about three percent of road transportation demand, so as EV sales ramp up, we could see a significant drop in oil demand. Off road
fans rejoice. A new Lexus GX is finally hitting the market. Styling is
much more boxy than the current truck, and its ruggedness can be enhanced with the new overtrail grade that, among other things, adds thirty three inch tires.
At launch, Lexus says it will be available with a three point four leader twin turbov six that makes three hundred and forty nine horsepower and four hundred and seventy nine pound feet of torque. A hybrid setup will come at a
later date as well. The interior also looks like a big upgrade over the
current model, at least much more modern. The highlight is a large fourteen
inch center displays screen. The new GX will be built in Japan and sales
kick off early next year. Lexus also says demand for three row SUVs keeps
growing in the US, so it's coming out with an all new model.
Take a look at the Lexus TX, which offers three powertrain choices, a V six p Have with four hundred and six horsepower, a turbo two point four Leader gas engine with two hundred and seventy five horsepower, or a turbo two point four Leader hybrid available only with an F Sport package with three hundred and sixty six horsepower and four hundred and nine pound feet of torque. The
p Have is expected to deliver thirty three miles of electric range and deliver thirty miles to the gallon. The TX is aimed at the American market and will
be built in Indiana. Lexus did not release prices yet, but we think
most versions could likely top one hundred thousand dollars Bosch is investing heavily in software and mobility, and even reorganize those efforts into a new business unit called BOSH Mobility, and it's massive, with two hundred and thirty thousand employees at more than three hundred locations in sixty six countries worldwide, with revenue expected to hit eighty four billion dollars by twenty twenty nine. Bosch's North American operations will deliver
about twenty billion dollars of that and will be run by Paul Thomas. One
project BOSH Mobility North America is working on is an intelligent traffic system for Woodward Avenue in Detroit that will feature pedestrian detection and alerts, as well as controlling traffic lights to provide priority for authorized vehicles, as well as V to V and V to eye communication, so BOSH will not only just supply software for cars, but also for the environment that they operate in. Toyota is ramping
up its EV development work in North America. It's investing fifty million dollars to
open a battery, R and D lab in Michigan, where it already has its largest engineering campus outside of Japan. The lab will work on developing new
types of cells, including solid state batteries, and it will work on master ways to charge evs. It will also serve as the North American arm of
Toyota's b EV Factory, which is the new business unit that was created inside the company to develop evs, similar to Ford's Model E business unit. The
Porsche Carrera GT is considered the last real driver's car, a naturally aspirated V ten and no electronic ninis, just man and machine. And now I feel
like Porsche could be going for the first real driver's EV with the Mission X concept, which to me looks a little like the Carrera GT. The name
is a continuation of the Mission E concept, which eventually became the Taikon.
So maybe the Mission X will to make it to production, and Porsche says if it does, it has four main goals. Number one, be the
fastest road legal vehicle to lap the nerberg Ring, and Tesla just took that title for an EV from the Tycon with a version of the Model Esque plaid that's available with a new track package. Number two, have a power to
weight ratio of roughly one horsepower per kilogram. Three deliver significantly more downforce than
a portion of nine to eleven GT three rs and finally, Number four offer about double the charging speed of the Tycon with a new nine vold electronic architecture.
It didn't give any indications about possible battery size or range, but says the pack is mounted behind the seats to improve handling. Toyota keeps putting development
time into hydrogen technology. It revealed a new race car that features a hydrogen
powered ice that's scheduled to compete at the twenty four Hours of Laman twenty twenty six. The ACO, the organization that puts a LAMA, recently announced a
new class that's expected to debut in twenty twenty six, which will allow both hydrogen powered ices as well as fuel cell evs. Toyota didn't reveal much about
the engine going into the racing concept, other than it's also paired with a hybrid system, but it could be one of a number of units. It's
already been racing a hydrogen powered one point six Leader three cylinder engine and the Corolla since twenty twenty one. Toyota's current hybrid Lama hypercar uses a three and
a half lead twin turbov six and it's also said to be working on a hydrogen powered V eight with Yamaha. And with that we wrap up today's show.
Thanks for joining us, and I hope you have a great weekend.
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About this episode
GM's surprise move to adopt Tesla's North American Charging Standard signals a shift toward a unified EV charging network, following Ford's lead. Ford is ramping up production of its F-150 Lightning, while Ram plans to bring its unibody Rampage pickup to the US. Bloomberg reports global ICE vehicle sales are declining as EV adoption grows, impacting oil demand. Lexus unveils rugged new GX and three-row TX SUVs with hybrid options. Bosch invests heavily in mobility software, and Toyota expands EV and hydrogen tech development. Porsche teases the Mission X electric hypercar aiming for Nürburgring dominance and rapid charging.
- Barra and Musk Announce EV Charging Collaboration - Ford Triples Lightning Production - Ram Rampage Going to U.S. Market - ICE Sales Down, EVs Up, Oil Declining - Lexus GX Gets Complete Make-Over - Lexus Unveils Big TX SUV - Bosch Bets Heavy on Software - Toyota Puts Battery R and D Lab in Michigan - Porsche Toys with Electric Hypercar - Toyota Develops Hydrogen Le Mans Racer